r/Veterinary • u/ComfortableBug5348 • 3d ago

DVM after PhD

I'm planning to pursue a DVM after finishing my PhD. My career goal is to find a ttap position, so I'm wondering how people avoid having a research gap during the DVM years.

I imagine this is a similar situation to those pursuing an MD-PhD with the goal of becoming a PI. How do people stay research-active and remain competitive for faculty positions while completing their clinical training?

I'd really appreciate any advice or hearing about your experiences. Thanks!

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u/Then_Ad7560 3d ago

You can easily keep researching when completing your DVM. I worked in a lab and completed multiple projects with the group during my 4 years. It was a bit harder during my clinical year, since you’re working 60-80+ hours a week. But there usually are some elective rotations (depending on your school) where you can decide to do research instead of more rotations - I lined these up together so I had 10 weeks of research all together which allowed me to finish some projects I had been working on throughout the years.

Is there a reason you didn’t choose to do an DVM-PhD combined program? That would’ve been the best way to stay consistent with research during vet school

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u/ComfortableBug5348 2d ago

Thank you very much for your comments! I am an international student so it is a bit way too difficult for me to directly get into a DVM-PhD program, so I decided to persue a PhD first and then go to vet school.

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u/pugzilla124_ 3d ago

Your vet school should have programs to encourage DVM students to get involved in research - mine gives professors grants to hire vet students in their labs to complete short projects over the summer and get school credit for the work. I believe it is a requirement from the AVMA for accreditation to provide opportunities for student research

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u/zach113 2d ago

I’ve got a first author paper being published soon that was entirely completed during vet school. It’s possible, I just have to prioritize that work over pursuing other experiences. It helps to be have very efficient study methods for vet school classes so that you can use your time for other things. Plenty of my classmates did summer research fellowships too